The secret to fish keeping - My 5 steps found inside..
- Thread starter Redearsunfish
- Start date
Enjoyment, or is that classed as fun too?
I over filter too btw. I have a 360 liter tank and a filter that gets through 1600 liter an hour. Works a charm and saves me a lot of headache! So I agree with you on that one too!
I over filter too btw. I have a 360 liter tank and a filter that gets through 1600 liter an hour. Works a charm and saves me a lot of headache! So I agree with you on that one too!
"I've kept fish for going on 40 years" just a beginner; I have over 45 years....lol.
Over-filtration has the potential to actually increase waste in the system.
There was a good thread a couple years ago addressing waste removal and the number of canister filters. If you have a tank with two canisters, you may rotate cleaning every month, so one filter gets cleaned every two months (effectively removing x% of the solid waste trapped inside. If you had 5 canisters on the same tank, you have to clean one canister in less than 30 days to effectively match the waste decomposition of only having two canisters.
Someone can do the math, but the issue is if you don't increase your filter cleaning effort (i.e., more than 5 filter cleanings in a 5 month period) the waste sits in each of the 5 canisters longer and more of the solid waste gets broken down and released back into the tank.
Because I have so much else going on in my life, I try to keep my fish care cleaning time to a minimum. For example, I only have two AC110s on my 125G tank (HOBs take less time to clean than canisters). Each filter gets cleaned once a month.
The other "secret" is paying attention to the water you use for WCs.
Each time I moved in the past, my water was different. From living at home (well water that was soft and acidic) to now where the water is very alkaline, hard, loaded with heavy minerals, has chloramine, and changes in quality (bad to worse) during the year.
Over-filtration has the potential to actually increase waste in the system.
There was a good thread a couple years ago addressing waste removal and the number of canister filters. If you have a tank with two canisters, you may rotate cleaning every month, so one filter gets cleaned every two months (effectively removing x% of the solid waste trapped inside. If you had 5 canisters on the same tank, you have to clean one canister in less than 30 days to effectively match the waste decomposition of only having two canisters.
Someone can do the math, but the issue is if you don't increase your filter cleaning effort (i.e., more than 5 filter cleanings in a 5 month period) the waste sits in each of the 5 canisters longer and more of the solid waste gets broken down and released back into the tank.
Because I have so much else going on in my life, I try to keep my fish care cleaning time to a minimum. For example, I only have two AC110s on my 125G tank (HOBs take less time to clean than canisters). Each filter gets cleaned once a month.
The other "secret" is paying attention to the water you use for WCs.
Each time I moved in the past, my water was different. From living at home (well water that was soft and acidic) to now where the water is very alkaline, hard, loaded with heavy minerals, has chloramine, and changes in quality (bad to worse) during the year.
I only have one canister on my tank, I clean it once a month, but with a twist. I clean the hoses and pipes etc, the first month I clean the top pad, the next month the pad below that and so on until I get back to the top pad. This stops me from killing all the good bacteria that reside in the filter pads in one foul swoop. I also make sure that my filter is not disconnected for more than half an hour to minimize bacteria die off.
I find this a more successful way of maintaining a good bacteria culture while only using one canister.
I find this a more successful way of maintaining a good bacteria culture while only using one canister.
"Over-filtration has the potential to actually increase waste in the system".
Now, I have in fact, heard it all!
And if it is true, i don't care, why? Because I like the filters almost as much as i like the fish. Seriously.
So maybe I am the wrong person to ask!
Now, I have in fact, heard it all!
And if it is true, i don't care, why? Because I like the filters almost as much as i like the fish. Seriously.
So maybe I am the wrong person to ask!
something that should be mentioned, that a lot of us (or at least me) are afflicted with are impulse buys. Try to avoid buying a fish without knowing any info on it (unless you know your LFS is honest and knowledgeable) despite how beautiful/exotic/unique it is. Will save you and the fish future heartache.
eatingleg4peanut;5033171; said:
Great point, and something I never do anymore, or at least I fight the temptation as best I can!
Lol I think most fishy people suffer from that "affliction". Myself included. I now just bypass those sections and make a straight line for the items I need, buy them and then leave quickly before I am tempted....
Sorry for the derail redearsunfish but whenever i see one of your threads i stop by cuz they usually inspire good convo. you've done it again
Redearsunfish;5033161; said:
So you have a filter fetish ....lol
BTW - I dug up the old Excel spreadsheet and compared filter maintenance between 2 filters and 5 filters. If you clean one of a two filter system every 30 days, you need to clean one of a five filter system every 15 days to maintain the same level of average "crud" in the system. Now that is not factoring in the increased breakdown of solid crud to liquid waste due to the bad stuff sitting in the filter longer.
So with 5 filters you have to work twice as hard (i.e., clean a filter every 15 days vs 30 days) as a two filter system. If you go from 2 to 5 filters and still only clean a filter every 30 days, you double the crud.
More filtration is not always a good thing.
